Effects of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion on queueing performance

Pooling,unpooling/specialization,and discretionary task completion are typical operational strategies in queueing systems that arise in healthcare,call centers,and online sales.These strategies may have advantages and disadvantages in different operational environments.This paper uses the M/M/1 and M/M/2 queues to study the impact of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion on the average queue length.Closed-form solutions for the average M/M/2 queue length are derived.Computational examples illustrate how the average queue length changes with the strength of pooling,specialization,and discretionary task completion.Finally,several conjectures are made in the paper.

Modelling of vehicle interaction behavior during discretionary lane-changing preparation process on freeway

In order to increase the accuracy of microscopic traffic flow simulation,two acceleration models are presented to simulate car-following behaviors of the lane-changing vehicle and following putative vehicle during the discretionary lanechanging preparation( DLCP) process, respectively. The proposed acceleration models can reflect vehicle interaction characteristics. Samples used for describing the starting point and the ending point of DLCP are extracted from a real NGSIM vehicle trajectory data set. The acceleration model for a lanechanging vehicle is supposed to be a linear acceleration model.The acceleration model for the following putative vehicle is constructed by referring to the optimal velocity model,in which optimal velocity is defined as a linear function of the velocity of putative leading vehicle. Similar calibration,a hypothesis test and parameter sensitivity analysis were conducted on the acceleration model of the lane-changing vehicle and following putative vehicle,respectively. The validation results of the two proposed models suggest that the training and testing errors are acceptable compared with similar works on calibrations for car following models. The parameter sensitivity analysis shows that the subtle observed error does not lead to severe variations of car-following behaviors of the lane-changing vehicle and following putative vehicle.

Implementing Discretionary Access Control with Time Character in Linux and Performance Analysis

DAC （Discretionary Access Control Policy） is access control based on ownership relations between subject and object, the subject can discretionarily decide on that who, by what methods, can access his owns object. In this paper, the system time is looked as a basic secure element. The DAC_T （Discretionary Access Control Policy with Time Character） is presented and formalized. The DAC_T resolves that the subject can discretionarily decide that who, on when, can access his owns objects. And then the DAC_T is implemented on Linux based on GFAC （General Framework for Access Control）, and the algorithm is put forward. Finally, the performance analysis for the DAC T Linux is carried out. It is proved that the DAC T Linux not only can realize time constraints between subject and object but also can still be accepted by us though its performance have been decreased.

Pass/Fail and Discretionary Grading: A Snapshot of Their Influences on Learning

This article provides a snapshot of pass/fail and discretionary grading approaches, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each. Norm-referenced and criterion-referenced grading practices and their associations with learning are identified. A brief historical backdrop illustrates how grading practices have evolved. The inherent subjectivity of grading is emphasized. Pass/fail grading supports intrinsic motivation and self-direction, but limits opportunities for recognizing excelling students. Discretionary grading, which includes letter (F- to A+) and numeric (0% to 100%) representations, supports extrinsic motivation and self-improvement, but promotes unhealthy competition. Both approaches have merit and can effectively measure student achievement in nursing education programs.

Discretionary Power in the Course of Granting Graduate Degree in America and Its Enlightenments

Graduate education is the key support to the national competitive and technological levels. Therefore, the system of granting graduate degree was clearly guaranteed in the national level. For example, there are Education Law and Higher Education Law in China; the people＇ s education right is protected by federal constitution in the United States, and also universities or institutes have their own charters to claim the relative rights. The system safeguards the legitimacy of degree granting, but also gives a considerable discretionary power to the granting units who can grant or cancel the degree.

＂Principal Components＂ for the Calculation of the Best Estimate Liability of Future Discretionary Benefits under Solvency II

The core of the presentation that I propose treats about the application of principal component analysis for the estimation of the future earnings of the Segregated Funds. The Segregated Funds are the pools of assets which have been using in the Italian Insurance Market since mid 80＇s for managing the ＂with profit＂ business, also known as business with ＂discretionary participation feature＂ according to IFRS4 since the income attributable to the policyholders is composed by the net realised gains less a fee and by a minimum guarantee, if any. The discretion of the Management of the Entity lays on the decision on whether and when to realise both the financial gains and the financial losses of the underlying investments. This strategy is tied by the need to manage an appropriate ALM, from the rules included in the local legislation as well as by the policy about the solvency margin （for example a minimum solvency ratio to fulfil that is conditional upon the value of income attributed that year）. The fee can not be changed, i.e., is not discretionary, the minimum granted could be fixed on annual basis-sometimes paid on cash recurrently-or could be promised only at expiration or sometimes promised at expiration or in advance only for death and disability. In case of years so adverse that the Entity is not able to avoid earnings too low, sometimes the entity delivers an additional bonus, in order to compensate their policyholders, which is based above a full discretion. Principal components are used in finance as well as in other fields such as genetic. You can see some of these applications in two of the references advised below. The purposes of the technique of principal components are （1） to increase objectivity of results and their verifiability by third parties such as auditors, （2） make speeder the time spent for the analytical calculations （i.e., runs of the actuarial models） and （3） to render the relationship between the asset composition and the their earnings effectively used for the best estimate liabilities through their contribution in forecasting future cash flows.

Managing Discretionary Services: A Review and Research Opportunities

Discretionary services typically refer to professional work and complex service work by physicians,software developers,web designers,lawyers,or financial analysts,where there are no standard working processes and customer perceived quality of service increases with the time spent on it.Recently,research on these services,especially the corresponding speed-quality tradeoff problem,has gained more and more attention.This paper reviews both the analytical models and the empirical studies in this area,highlighting their contributions and pointing out potential directions for future research.

Optimal Policies for Inventory Systems with Discretionary Sales,Random Yield and Lost Sales

We determine replenishment and sales decisions jointly for an inventory system with random demand, lost sales and random yield. Demands in consecutive periods are independent random variables and their distributions are known. We incorporate discretionary sales, when inventory may be set aside to satisfy future demand even if some present demand may be lost. Our objective is to minimize the total discounted cost over the problem horizon by choosing an optimal replenishment and discretionary sales policy. We obtain the structure of the optimal replenishment and discretionary sales policy and show that the optimal policy for finite horizon problem converges to that of the infinite horizon problem. Moreover, we compare the optimal policy under random yield with that under certain yield, and show that the optimal order quantity （sales quantity） under random yield is more （less） than that under certain yield.

A Logic-Based Safety Analysis Algorithm for Discretionary Access Control

For the issue of the discretionary access control（DAC） model safety analysis,a logic method is proposed.This method takes the GD model as the classic DAC model and Prolog as the basic language to describe system states and state transfer rules.A general program based on this logic method is proposed for DAC safety analysis,but this program may never be terminal for some safety analysis goal.The safety analysis algorithm is achieved by simplifying the general program according to the property of the DAC model state transfer rules.This safety analysis algorithm is easier to understand and implement than the previous algorithms and its time complexity is O（N＋M＋T）,in which N,M,and T are the numbers of the rights with copy flag,the policies for right transferring,and the policies for right permitting,respectively.

THE OPTIMIZATION PATH OF THE DISCRETIONARY REQUIREMENTS OF CHINA'S ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION INJUNCTION

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that the construction of ecological civilization is a millennium plan for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.Constructing ecological civilization and adhering to green development is the basic strategy of adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.In the litigation system of China,it is the behavior preservation system that corresponds to the litigation injunction.In civil litigation,the main legal basis for the preservation of civil action is the part on the preservation of acts in the provisions of article 100 of the Code of Civil Procedure,which refers to the obstacles to the performance of future judgments or the further infringement caused to the parties.The court shall,on the application of a party or in accordance with its authority,order the other party to make certain acts or prohibit certain acts.The injunction of environmental litigation is an important preventive measure to give full play to the concept of plain environmental justice.

“国家在战争或武装冲突中使用核武器的合法性问题咨询意见案”述评

针对世界卫生组织要求就"国家在战争或武装冲突中使用核武器的合法性问题"发表咨询意见的请求,国际法院以"不属于其职权范围"为由,在其司法实践中第一次决定拒绝发表咨询意见。在分析国际法院推理的基础上,本文指出,国际法院的决定尽管有其不足,但它将决定建立在"联合国体系"和"专业性原则"这两个规范性概念的基础上,目的在于维护国际法体系的统一性;基于同样原因,国际法院没有将隐含权力理论适用于本案。

Is Earnings Management a Technique to Reduce Cost of Capital？ Exploratory Study on Indian Companies

Earnings management has attracted lots of academicians towards the research due to the emerging frauds and downfall of great corporate giants of the world. Mainly earnings measurement is based on the accounting estimates which managers can easily manipulate for their self-interest. The study investigates the relationship between cost of capital and the earnings measurement for the Indian firms. Measurement of earnings is mostly computed by taking either discretionary accruals （DAC） or non-discretionary accruals （NDAC）. Present study has used Dechow, Sloan, and Sweeney （1995） model for earnings measurement and for analyzing the results. Panel data regression has also been used. Findings of the study conclude that DAC has a significant influence on cost of capital, but NDAC has no influence.

办公自动化系统安全模型研究

给出了办公自动化系统的技术特征和安全需求,就相关的几种主要安全模型进行了分析对比,得出结论:RBAC安全模型最适合办公自动化系统的安全访问控制。

Earnings Management and Fraudulent Financial Reporting： The Malaysian Story

Earnings management research has a long and rich history. The agency conflict, incentives, rationalization, opportunity plus having the capability among the managers to manipulate the financial statements lead them to commit fraud. The loopholes in the standards or the deviation from real operational activities promote this situation to prolong. In relation to this issue, this study examines the earnings management behavior among fraud firms in Malaysia. Further, this study examines the relationship between accruals earnings management as a proxy variable for discretionary accruals and real earnings management as the proxy variable for discretionary cash flow. Sample of 57 alleged fraud firms was selected based on the fraudulent financial reporting offences announced in Bursa Malaysia website. The sample data are collected from public firms which committed fraud from 2001 to 2013. This study found a significant negative relationship between accruals earnings management and real earnings management among the fraud firms in Malaysia suggesting that these firms aggressively manage earnings downwards or upwards essentially to avoid regulators scrutiny apart from aiming to achieve personal incentives. The study significantly finds evidence that fraud firms manage earnings on a sequential basis between accruals earnings management and real earnings management prior to fraud year. The findings indicate that firms opt for real earnings management and make full use of its distinguished features of not easily traceable to continue managing earnings immediately subsequent to fraud year. This study may assist regulators, auditors, and policymakers to curb earnings management patterns that have high likelihood of becoming part of fraud antecedent.

An Efficient Role and Object Based Access Control Model Implemented in a PDM System

An effective and reliable access control is crucial to a PDM system.This article has discussed the commonly used access control models,analyzed their advantages and disadvantages,and proposed a new Role and Object based access control model that suits the particular needs of a PDM system.The new model has been implemented in a commercial PDM system,which has demonstrated enhanced flexibility and convenience.

Toward the Effect of Audit Quality on Earnings Management——Empirical Evidence from Manufacturing Enterprises Listed in Shanghai Stock Market

Nowadays, earnings management is a hot issue, but most of the researches focus on the incentives of earnings management and few of them refer to the effect of audit quality on earnings management. In this study, we directly examine the effect of external audit quality on earnings management by using discretionary accruals. We find that the discretionary accruals of non-dual audit companies are significantly greater than those of dual audit companies. We also find that clients of non-First Ten auditors intend to report greater discretionary accruals than those of First Ten auditors.

Earnings Management Practices in Indian Companies： A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Corporate accounting frauds over the last two decades have caused massive erosion of investor wealth and shattered public confidence in regulators and capital markets. Deliberate manipulation of financial numbers by a company is rarely a one-off event; it is more a culture of widespread earnings management that permeates an organization and eventually leads to a full-blown accounting fraud. This paper looks at earnings management practices in Indian companies and examines the extent of earnings management prevalent across firms of varying market capitalization. The present study examines 130 listed Indian companies during the period of 2013-2015. The findings of this study provide a measure of the quality of financial reporting in India. Modified Jones model （1995） is used to estimate discretionary accruals （DA）, which is considered as a proxy for earnings management. The average DA is estimated at 5.6% of the total assets of the firms, which is comparable to the estimates in other parts of the world （about 1%-5% of total assets）. A sector-specific analysis reveals presence of higher earnings manipulation in the consumer durable and energy sectors. Large cap companies are found to show a lower level of eamings management as compared to the small-cap firms. The study also finds a dip in the magnitude of DA in 2015, which is the first year of application of the new Companies Act 2013. Subsequent years will reveal the true success of the new Act in enforcing a stricter regime of corporate governance and greater accountability of corporate boards and audit committees. International studies point towards a high degree of correlation between effective audit committees and lower levels of earnings management in companies. Further work in this field from an Indian context will help identify factors that have a constraining effect on earnings management, and ultimately help preserve the sanctity of reported financial numbers.

Corporate Governance and Earnings Quality： The Experience of Listed Companies in Iran

This study examines the relationship among independent boards of directors, board size, managerial share ownership （MSO）, and earnings quality. The study of these relationships is controlled by firm size based on a sample of 114 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange （TSE） for the period from 2008 to 2010. The results demonstrate that there was an insignificant positive relationship among independent boards of directors, managerial ownership, and earnings quality. Subsequent analysis shows an insignificant negative relationship between board size and earnings quality. It also provides evidence of the negative relationship between firm size as a control variable and earnings quality. This can be attributed to the fact that large firms are claimed to be politically sensitive and thus have the incentive to lessen variances in changes in their reported earnings.

Do Auditors Postpone Reporting in Response to Insider Trading？ A Korean Perspective

How do auditors react to insider trading in client firms？ This paper examines the effects of insider trading on the audit report date. Insiders tend to urge managers to manage earnings to make more profits through trading their own firm＇s shares. If auditors play an important role in monitoring managers, they may pay more attention to insider trading, which may delay the filing of audit reports. We find that the more the insiders trade their stocks, the longer the audit report lag is. In addition, to address the effectiveness of auditors＇ efforts to prevent managers from earnings management, we test whether an extra effort by auditors can reduce aggressive accounting. We also find that auditors deter aggressive accounting by stretching report lag in response to insider trading, implying that auditors＇ efforts weaken insiders＇ opportunistic behavior. This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence that insider trading is a significant determinant of the audit report lag. We suggest that auditors are interested in insiders＇ activity and it can enhance the quality of accounting information.

The Importance of Earnings Management Detection Models to Identify Fraud： A Case From Italian Listed Firms

Markets can get the confidence of investors enhancing the quality of governance and audit systems surrounding a firm. Financial reporting is a main component of them, being the basis for information necessary to investors＇ decisions. Managers have a chance to manipulate information provided in financial statements, in order to offer a better image of a firm to its potential and effective investors. The objective of this study is to evaluate the possibility of detecting extreme cases of earnings management and to check the predictive ability of the discretionary accruals models on the event of fraudulent earnings restatement. Through the abuse of reporting incentives, a manager gives out false information that should be averted and punished by regulators in a fair market system. The authors check the efficacy of different earnings management detection models in predicting discretionary manipulations and study the correlation between the frequency of manipulation and the event of fraud.